A day before he gets married, jockey Tommy Berry fancies his chances of a feature race double when he teams up with Hawkes Racing at Randwick.
Berry will marry Sharnee Nisbet on Sunday but there will be no honeymoon with the jockey unwilling to let anyone else get aboard Golden Slipper winner Vancouver who runs in a barrier trial the following day.
On Saturday, Berry will partner favourite Messene for the Hawkes team in the Group Two Missile Stakes and stablemate Rageese, the top pick for in the Listed Rosebud.
Messene finished second to Sweet Idea in last year’s Missile but his form tapered off in Melbourne and he was spelled.
Co-trainer Michael Hawkes says the stable is banking on a return to Sydney helping Messene recapture his best form.
Rageese tackles the Rosebud first-up from an autumn preparation boasting placings in the Group Two Pago Pago Stakes and Group One Sires’ Produce Stakes.
The colt, who has been nominated for the Cox Plate and Caulfield Guineas, won a recent barrier trial and is the $2.80 favourite to break his maiden in Saturday’s Golden Rose lead-up.
Berry will also ride Hawkes Racing’s remaining runners, progressive import Himalaya Dream in the Sky Racing Handicap and last-start winner Darciwood in the TAB Place Multi Handicap.
The Randwick meeting also marks the return of top jockey Jim Cassidy.
Cassidy hasn’t ridden in Sydney since he suffered a rib injury at Rosehill on May 30 and has three rides at Randwick headed by the Gai Waterhouse-trained Duccio, one of the favourites for the Lindblad Expeditions Handicap.
